Skype launches an Insider program

Microsoft’s reliance on Insider programs have been quite fruitful – there’s a Windows Insider program, an Office Insider program, and even an Xbox Insider program. Now Skype is getting its own Insider program, to accomplish similar goals.

Skype isn’t really a complicated deal; logically, Windows, Xbox, and Office are massive systems and suits with incomprehensible complexity – these operating systems and suits cannot be reasonably compared with Skype, which is simply a single piece of software.

However, the Skype Insider program is doing things a bit different; to become an Insider, you must fill up this form – the Insider program is available for the Skype Android, iOS, Mac and Windows clients.

If you do sign up for the program, you will be contacted by Microsoft in 1 business day, confirming your participation. For the Windows version, however, you can simply download the Insider build from here – no forms required.

You might notice that the Skype Insider program isn’t open to the Windows Store versions – on Windows 10, or Windows 10 Mobile; this might look odd, but here’s a reminder: Microsoft allows developers to push Store updates to Insiders via the Windows Store itself, therefore negating the need for a specific Skype Insider.

At the moment, there is no Insider build available for the Android, iOS or Mac editions – there is one available for Windows, however.

The Skype Insider program isn’t a very complicated one – it is, after all, only for a single application – but it is needed, at a time when Skype is going through a massive transition under Microsoft. The fact that we now have an Insider program simply means we are going to see things change at a much faster pace now.

You can read more about the Skype Insider announcement at Skype’s official blog. You might also want to read the Skype Insider Program Terms before signing up for it, here’s the link for that.